Kashmir

8 results arranged by date

On March 7, 2014, at least 20 assailants stormed the offices of Chingari, an Urdu-language daily based in
Mirpur, Pakistan-administered Kashmir, according to local reports
and local press freedom groups, including the Freedom Network and the
Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists.

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Authorities
in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir on February 9, 2013, ordered citizens
to remain indoors and restricted mobile Internet service and cable television across
several districts in the lead-up to a controversial execution of a militant
from the region, according to news reports.

The government of Indian Kashmir has a long record of
failing to respond to physical attacks on the press. This week, the possibility
that websites like YouTube and Facebook were blocked indicated that online
freedoms, too, are under threat.

Early this month, newspaper offices in Indian-controlled
Kashmir received a note warning journalists to be more supportive of the
Kashmir independence movement, according to the leading national daily, The Times of India, citing
a news agency in the state's summer capital, Srinagar. No militants took
responsibility this time, but in mid-March insurgent groups issued a joint message
that urged journalists to "highlight the pain and suffering of Kashmiris
because of oppressive state policies."

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Retired Supreme Court Justice Markandey Katju is shaking
things up at the Press Council of India, where he was appointed chairman in October.
The statutory body, mandated to look at media freedom and address complaints
against the print media since 1966, has often been criticized for
ineffectiveness, its role limited to admonishing news outlets.

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The latest issue of India's Tehelka weekly magazine carries some great reporting
on press freedom issues, an effort supported by CPJ and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
The article, by Pragya Tiwari, includes many examples of journalists being
harassed and assaulted while reporting on clashes between security and
separatist groups in Jammu and Kashmir. It begins with a veteran journalist who
was beaten to unconsciousness while going through a security checkpoint--despite
having all the right paperwork. But the author also outlines systemic problems that
are eroding media freedom even on issues beyond the conflict.

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New York, July 9, 2010—National authorities in India must immediately address complaints from local journalists in Indian-controlled Kashmir who say they are being stopped from covering the government crackdown on protests that have killed 15 people.